Lionel Legacy Reading T-1 has arrived!

Alright, let's have a look at it.

Congratulations.  Post a video ASAP.

Picked up my Lionel No. 2100 Reading T-1 today at Hennings'. We unpacked, visually inspected, and briefly test ran my loco to be certain that all of the cosmetic and operational features were as they should be. Everything is A-OK.  These are very handsome models with great sounds and features. I believe that most of you are going to love the T-1s. Thanks to the gang at Hennings' for their usual excellent and attentive service. 

Now, I've got to drive myself and my T-1 home to Michigan so that I can enjoy my New Year's 'Northern'.

Bob

Gregcz1 posted:

...I luckily checked the "grease" spots underneath and discovered 3 out of the 4 wells were bone-dry and there was no lubrication on any of the axels.

...

A manageable issue, but also another example of more corners being cut at the factory amidst ever increasing price increases.  I guess the factory is gonna do what the factory is gonna do these days.  And we're ultimately responsible for checking everything out.  Nothing is prep'd for the customer, unless your LHS provides that service.

David

He said 'make sure to grease and lubricate where designated', which you should do with any new engine.  Always.  Why do you have to turn it instantly negative?  If some idiot doesn't know enough to grease and oil a new steam engine before running it, is that Lionel's fault?  Give it a rest.  This ongoing rant is getting old.  It's in every thread.  Let the guys enjoy their new toys.   For gosh sakes.

William 1 posted:

He said 'make sure to grease and lubricate where designated', which you should do with any new engine.  Always.  Why do you have to turn it instantly negative?  If some idiot doesn't know enough to grease and oil a new steam engine before running it, is that Lionel's fault?

Just my opinion but, oiling the side rods, axles, and other moving points is one thing, with a brand new steam locomotive model. However, the purchaser should NOT have to put grease in all the drive gear boxes! That should have been done at the factory.

 Give it a rest.  This ongoing rant is getting old.  It's in every thread.

Maybe THAT is telling about Lionel's quality?

 Let the guys enjoy their new toys.   For gosh sakes.

I don't consider myself an "idiot", but I do think it is worthwhile reminding buyers to check the grease.  I have manuals that instruct new owners to oil the axels and rollers, and to grease after one year or 50 hours, whichever occurs earlier,  NOT upon purchase.  Note Alex Milliae's thread concerning greasing locomotives.

Furthermore, external cosmetic inspections of engines isn't the whole story.  I recently purchased a new engine which externally looked perfect but couldn't be programmed.  I got authorization from Lionel warranty service to open the engine and do my own repair.  Each step I documented with photos for my own instruction and protection.

What I found indicated that the substitute teacher was called in for the day.  The wire board for the smoke control was floating free and completely detached from the switch.  The holding tabs hadn't even been bent over.  The PGM/RUN switch  had been reversed with the Oddyssey  switch thus stretching one of the wires such that it detached from the PGM function.  I spliced, soldered, and rewired until everything was back in operation.  Then I noticed the front number board lights weren't lighting.  After doing some detective work, I determined that the starboard side of the connector strip had incorrect polarity.  I then verified by reverse wiring the plug and restoring the number board lighting.  I won't post pictures or have any more remarks concerning this engine.  

The purpose for veering off course is to defend objective dissent, and suggest due diligence for the purchase of all products that come with the moniker of buyer beware.  One large warehouse chain wants completely satisfied customers.  You don't like it for any reason, take it back to any one of hundreds of locations for full money back guarantee. That is not the world of trains, and we should have an open forum that let's us acknowledge that fact.

A recent thread on defective trains got too unwieldy and was shut down by the publisher,  and it is my sincere wish that this thread be returned to the topic at hand which is the enjoyment of the T-1.  I ask the publisher to continue the thread with or without  this comment.

How do you tell if the grease "wells" are dry? And, where are these wells located?

From other engines I recall a screw on the chassis had to be removed to insert grease - which connects the worm gear to drive gear if memory is correct, if there's no grease visible in that hole well does that mean its dry and grease should be added? What other "wells" are there on a non-articulated model?

I've been operating trains for decades and only recall one other occasion when a brand new engine came without grease on the main worm gear - is that what we're talking about with the T-1? Lubricating siderods and axels is another matter - that has to be done on every new engine.

Paul Kallus posted:

How do you tell if the grease "wells" are dry? And, where are these wells located?

From other engines I recall a screw on the chassis had to be removed to insert grease - which connects the worm gear to drive gear if memory is correct, if there's no grease visible in that hole well does that mean its dry and grease should be added? What other "wells" are there on a non-articulated model?

I've been operating trains for decades and only recall one other occasion when a brand new engine came without grease on the main worm gear - is that what we're talking about with the T-1? Lubricating siderods and axels is another matter - that has to be done on every new engine.

There are four screws underneath the engine labelled "Grease".  When i took off the screws, 3 of them were empty.

William 1 posted:

He said 'make sure to grease and lubricate where designated', which you should do with any new engine.  Always.  Why do you have to turn it instantly negative?  If some idiot doesn't know enough to grease and oil a new steam engine before running it, is that Lionel's fault?  Give it a rest.  This ongoing rant is getting old.  It's in every thread.  Let the guys enjoy their new toys.   For gosh sakes.

Normally, I wouldn't respond to these kinds of posts.  But in your case, William, we'll make an exception.  You're expressing your frustration to the wrong person here.  Don't shoot the messenger.  There have been a handful of threads recently where brand new locomotives straight from the factory have COMPLETELY dry gear boxes.  That was NEVER the case before... at least not with any locomotives I purchased in the past.  So obviously something is different now.  Even if you fall into the "Lionel can never do anything wrong" camp, ya gotta wonder a little bit at the short-cuts being taken nowadays. 

And oh, by the way... for everybody who's interested in this locomotive, I just saw a video of the AFT T-1 on Harry Henning's Facebook page, and these locos look AND sound sweet.  Definitely a winner.    Check it out HERE!  Enjoy!!!

David

Hey William,

I could 100% agree with your comments. Every thread ends up as a race to the negative. I get it, we spend a lot of money on the high end engines and we get ticked off when we get disappointed. I for one have purchased the Lionel Big Boy, the Allegheny and was going to buy a GG1 but a few financial road blocks prevented me from getting it. Regardless, of the true prototype look, I run them! They are not shelf queens, purchased to run, why? Cause I liked it and fortunate to be able to by them.

I get it, lots of money for a product it needs to be of the highest quality - no out of the box failures, excellent paint, the works.

But, Lionel, sometimes fairly, gets hammered no matter what they do as evidence on the Big Boys, the Allegheny and now the GG1's.

Again, I get it some folks are passionate about everything and in the case of the GG1's I am not 100% sure everything I read was correct but I do get it. You rarely see MTH, Atlas or 3rd Rail get blistered when they have issues.

Do we hold Lionel to a higher standard? Do know, all I know is I enjoy the hobby even with its warts.

I like your comment - lets try to avoid the constant negativity and enjoy the hobby. Yes, feel free to make constructive comments as I do believe the manufacturing community listens.

Kevin

David,

Thanks for the video link + I do like your constructive comments.

Kevin

By the way, do these T-1's come with a dummy front coupler for double-heading?

Yes David they do - I mentioned that in my reply on the other post too. 

So now you double, triple or even quadruple head!!

Omg what a whistle i love it ...Way nicer then the Allegheny

M J Breen posted:

Yes David they do - I mentioned that in my reply on the other post too. 

So now you double, triple or even quadruple head!!

Thanks, Michael.  I just saw your post on the other thread too!    Glad to see Lionel fixed the AFT T-1 color.  The navy blue used in production looks MUCH nicer than whatever neon-blue Lionel had on display at York! 

Decisions... decisions... now to decide which road-numbers for the Reading.  

David

Rocky Mountaineer posted:

M J Breen posted:

Yes David they do - I mentioned that in my reply on the other post too. 

So now you double, triple or even quadruple head!!

Thanks, Michael.  I just saw your post on the other thread too!    Glad to see Lionel fixed the AFT T-1 color.  The navy blue used in production looks MUCH nicer than whatever neon-blue Lionel had on display at York! 

Decisions... decisions... now to decide which road-numbers for the Reading.  

David

Thats easy 2124! its looks just like the one at Steamtown!

That whistle sounds awesome.

Had I the funds, I definitely would've chosen either the 2100 or the Chessie Steam Special, as I'm very nostalgic to the original Lionel LTI T-1's.

So far, it seems that this is Lionel's best steam locomotive of 2016.

Mikado 4501 posted:

That whistle sounds awesome.

Had I the funds, I definitely would've chosen either the 2100 or the Chessie Steam Special, as I'm very nostalgic to the original Lionel LTI T-1's.

So far, it seems that this is Lionel's best steam locomotive of 2016.

yup hands down 

Well for me, that's about the best sounding Lionel Whistle I've heard outside of the Vision Line Big Boy, AC-9 & Empire State Express. That whistle in the American Freedom Train totally reminds me of the 33 LP Steam Train Sound record I play that had that type of whistle. My parents used to play that LP Recording down in there basement layout a while back in Cleveland. But for this whistle in the T-1, sounds beautiful.

Absolutely fantastic whistle!! 

Alex 

I got mine, love it. My new favorite locomotive.

WOW